Joy Lademora is the senior coordinator for special programs at the Graduate School. Joy handles multiple aspects of the Office of Academic Affairs’ operations. In her free time, she loves to cook and solve online crosswords!

What do you do day-to-day in your role?

My role is multi-faceted, and I handle a variety of duties, including serving as a liaison for the Curriculum Committee and Student Scholarship Committee, preparing student course surveys and defense announcements, performing website maintenance, thesis binding and diploma distribution, assisting with Commencement planning and faculty and student Commencement regalia, and much more!

What projects are you working on?

I am currently preparing important information for the upcoming Curriculum and Student Scholarship Committee meetings, and notifications for the GSBS Research Awards. My biggest project this year is compiling a list of all our previous fellowship, scholarship, and award recipients.

What excites you the most about working for the Graduate School?

The camaraderie. We are like one big family. We all have different responsibilities, but we all help each other to ensure that the students and faculty are well-served and pleased with the assistance we give them.

What hobbies do you have outside of work?

Cooking is my passion, and I love to share the food I prepare with others. I also love to play online crosswords like Word Connect, Vegas Words, Word Fall, and Word Blast. These games keep my brain working!

What skills do you find most valuable in your work?

Being friendly, helpful, affirmative, and happy makes life easier for me and the people I’m in contact with, particularly at work. I use these attributes whenever and wherever I am. Also, I introduce myself as “the joy of the Graduate School”, so I have to live up to my name!

Do you have a favorite memory at the Graduate School?

I have a few! Assisting with scholarships and fellowships is one of the responsibilities of my job, and seeing our hardworking students receive these awards brings me contentment. Seeing them happy and striving to be even more successful in their studies and then later in their careers makes me feel grateful and satisfied, as I know I’ve been a part of their success, even in a very simple way.

Also, I treasure the lunch bunch. Some of my colleagues and I gather at one table, share food, chat, and laugh together as if there is no tomorrow. This is what I look forward to when I go to work – chatting, checking, and sometimes teasing each other. I consider myself lucky to be with the Graduate School. This was my first job in the U.S. and will probably be my last until I retire. My colleagues are not just friends to me, they are my extended family!